“When the Bough Breaks”

I personally liked this one. However, it is difficult to believe that no one on the planet would possibly imagine that that a possible reason the entire race on the planet might not conceive might be due to a planet-wide effect (the planet cloaking device) -- especially over decades of time!. Big plot hole, unless their intelligence was affected which the show did not say it was.

"I must say, I feel like a real bastard reviewing season one of TNG (even knowing full well that the show will later get much better), where the episodes — sometimes barely watchable — are getting some of the lowest ratings in all my years of reviewing."

laughing laughing laughing thanks jammer! :D

I like how you make very funny reviews of super-boring episodes.

This is one of those episodes that you don't remember a damn thing after a while. It lets you so unaffected from what's going on that becomes pointless to watch.

Btw, I've said "boring" so many times now, but hey! It's TNG Season 1, so brace yourself.

I can accept that Aldeans wanted children to re-populate, but gee, even Wes?

Ms. Sheear's stories for TNG were different.

But not in a bad way.

They're (IMHO) refreshing, exploring venues of sci-fi not really touched on.

Calculus in the 7th grade? Cool!

Abducting kids as means to get around a sterility problem? This is remarkably adult sci-fi, and not a stupid sexcapade as so many earlier TNG episodes devolved into.

But the Aldeans would not make good parents. They're too hyperfocused on art and forgot how to build the tools they use, much less in discipline - the one aspect of raising children that is completely ignored, apart from Harry's father, and how did Riker know Harry's name? Anyway, that trope (forgetting how to build things) is not uncommon in sci-fi, but the application in this story is novel.

Even WESLEY WONDERBRAT isn't the cure-all. Okay, the children do start to get upset toward the end, at least the girl who played the music. Wes did seem to have to tell them all not to comply, and is having difficulty convincing them as to why...

But a cloaked planet -- cool idea, but surely a starship traveling at warp or impulse might go *SMACK* into it, since it's only rendered invisible -- it's still there, and ready to be the proverbial car that the starship (or, in this case, the proverbial deer) is waiting to greet... without the headlights.

3.25 of 4 stars from me, despite my nitpicks.

Wow, Jammer, I completely disagree with you. I would go so far as to say you might not have "got it"? The Aldeans are so stuck in their ways ,old people = old culture, that they cannot see the trees from the forest. I thought it was a wonderful episode, with great effects, good score, good acting, and great Picard SWEAR!

I agree that the Aldeans negotiating with the Enterprise at all was kind of a silly plot point, and only taking 6 kids was essentially meaningless, but in the annals of meaningless Star Trek plot points, this is certainly not even in the top 10.

I think this was a well done episode, it moved well, and all the players had believable motivations, which is all I ask out of space-drama. I say this is a highlight of season 1.

Nick P, I agree.

My favorite line in all of Star Trek is in this episode: Things are only impossible until they're not.

Oh boy, it would appear that '11001001' was looking more and more like an isolated one- off. This episode really hasn't aged well. The basic premise, as Jammer says, is inherently ludicrous, although this episode seems to have attracted a significant number of defenders in the Comments here. I could take the point that the concept is an intriguing one but the implementation is dreadful.

Stumbling across the hitherto mythical world of Aldea, and the Aldeans want something the Enterprise will be extremely reluctant to give up.

Hoary, predictable and simplistic, I erred in my review of 'Too Short a Season' - this is, for me the low point of Season 1- thinking ahead to the remainder of the season, I can't quite think of anything this poor. The plot makes Wesley into the 'Mary Sue' , having the brilliant idea of 'maintaining the computer', and whilst I love Jerry Hardin as 'Deep Throat' in the X Files, here he fares badly, coming across as absurd in the role of potential 'villain'. The scenes following the children's abduction are pour rire, as the parents sit around apparently barely bothered that their kids have been abducted. No - Sorry, for me this is a definite turkey - Half a Star from me - though fortunately at least two of the next three episodes see the series turn in the right direction.

I take back what I said on a previous comment, in which I said that the three worst episodes of the season were "Code of Honour," "Justice" and "Angel One." Rewatching this, this is way worse than "Justice" and "Angel One." Actually, I found it harder to watch than "Code of Honour," though I don't know that I'd say that it's worse.

My favourite part of this episode is when they use the big suspense/action score and have an *act break* for the passive resistance scene. And the ironic thing is that a couple of kids half-heartedly not eating genuinely *is* the most exciting thing in this episode.

So, which of the girls do the Aldeans figure Wesley is eventually going to breed with?

I appreciate that this episode does have its defenders -- I am glad to hear that others enjoyed it more than I did. But seriously, this was *painful* to get through for me in a way I really hadn't prepared myself for. I can't even sift through my mind enough to articulate how badly it played.

1/2 star.

The thing that bothers me here also bothered me in DS9 S2's Paradise - the lack of fury. Civilized people or no, not only was this kidnapping, but they did something every kid knows to try and avoid - taking something after you were told you couldn't have it. A simple line like this could have aided the weak story.

Picard : Understand that you are forgiven, but that this is far from forgotten. The time may come that you regain the knowledge of your ancestors, and perhaps even perfect your cloak against harming you. But take this as a given : However well hidden you once more become, Aldea will be watched, and a repeat of this loathsome tactic will not go well for you. Read that however you see fit.

No vengeance. Just some blatantly stated displeasure, if only for the 'angry-at-you-for-not-giving-up-the-kids-to-start-with' spoiled brat attitude. I think a sad relic for TNG of S1 was this idea that you can never ever take jerks to task, even verbally.

The first half of the episode was great. The thought of parents losing their children is chilling. But then things started to get stupid, and it just kept going downhill. I give the first half 3 1/2 stars and the second half a reluctant half star.

Am I the only one who noticed that there's another random boy in the group? In some shots there's a boy besides Wesley and Harry, making a total of 7 children. In others he's gone and there's only six.
This is my only problem with this episode. Otherwise, it's just as believable as the other crazy plots from season 1.

For some reason, back in 1988 I recorded "When the Bough Breaks" and "Home Soil" onto VHS, so I've watched those episodes more than any others in season 1.

Actually the Aldeans' motivation for negotiating is established, if only just barely. When the spokesman guy is first talking to Riker, he explains that the Aldean economy is based on mutual exchange; whenever something is received, something else must be given. So they owe the Enterprise fair compensation for the children. Or something.

But yeah, this episode is terrible. The effects and costuming have not aged well. The child actors' performances are totally unconvincing. The reaction of the parents is ludicrous in both scripting and performance; from their reactions you'd think they were being told that their insurance rates were going up, not that their children were being abducted permanently. Was there any point to the subplot about the Enterprise being tossed away, other than padding out the episode? The planet-wide cloak is an interesting idea, but is also a can of worms. If Starfleet has access to that technology, why didn't they use it to forestall the Borg and Dominion invasions? Sloppy writing.

These plots would be so much more believable if we were not always told that a dozen persons make up the whole population of a planet. Why not just say that this is one country on the planet, or even better, why didn't they use the "colony" device more often? It made sense in "The Ensigns of Command" and "The Survivors".

Enjoyed this episode and also your take on it.

One line that stood out for me was Aldea leader and Riker in the negotiation
Riker says "We sympathize with your situation. But what you ask is not possible."
Aldean Leader says "And that your final answer" and Riker says "Its our only answer"
Picard of course knows that is not true and continues the negotiation stalling for time.

The computer has taken over the planet and what they think is their savior (computer tech) is killing them. Kinda similar to our planet? Hmmm...

I agree with Jammer that the plot is illogical when Dr. Crusher can find cure in a few days and advanced race cannot figure that out in eons.

I do like the part where Aldeans encourage kids to follow their feelings (encourage them to do what they love to do such as art & music) instead of thinking (calculus).

PS. The angelic little girl's face reminds me of a like a younger Miranda Kerr.

Tyra:

"I agree with Jammer that the plot is illogical when Dr. Crusher can find cure in a few days and advanced race cannot figure that out in eons."

This is a common thing in Star Trek which I hate. It's understandable that the Enterprise will often encounter civilizations that have made certain scientific discoveries (yet), just like they often meet near-omnipotent beings. But the way the crew keeps coming up with quick solutions to problems which these other civilizations have been laboring on for ages is just too implausible. I get that they do it because the problem has to be solved in the course of a 45 minute episode, but they could at least make the crew work a little bit more to get there.

What I meant to say was: "It's understandable that the Enterprise will often encounter civilizations that have *NOT* made certain scientific discoveries (yet)"

Gene Roddenberry once said that the character of Wesley Crusher was based on his own personality and life experiences. Explains a lot, which is why Gene was once again made irrelevant by Season 2, so that some real creativity could be injected into the show... This episode (what was it called, something about a bough breaking) was so bad that I remember thinking at age 16 "oh please let this get better, it's so bad."

I wonder if I was watching the series as it was originally broadcast I'd still be tuning in after a run of episodes that have really struggled?

This is inoffensive enough, but as others have identified the plot holes are manifest and the character motivations muted and underplayed. It just doesn't land any emotional hits.

And by the end it turns into a clunking allegory of the destruction of the ozone layer, throwing us out of whatever story there was and into a "we thought technology was the answer - what fools we were" conclusion that was tired before it was rolled out as a thousand other sci-fi standbys. 1.5 stars.

Diamond Dave: "I wonder if I was watching the series as it was originally broadcast I'd still be tuning in after a run of episodes that have really struggled?"

Bear in mind, that level of TNG was all we had at the time. Plus, we were learning how to watch it while the writers were learning how to make it. So tune in we did, and we liked it!

The Custodian borrows heavily (rips off) from the great work "The Machine Stops."

There are a few musical notes that get played in this episode prominently when the children are on screen. You know the ones I mean. I need only hum these notes to my friends and we all groan.

This episode is memorable for all the wrong reasons. Just wretched.

For me this episode was so bad it was good

Like I said before, I still can not fathom how TNG made it to a 2nd season. Season 1 has a few nice ones, but over all is just a comically over-sexed rip off of TOG.

Gene, we all love ya, but if you stayed in 100% control of TNG it would have died by the end of S3 and we would have had no DS9, Voyageur or movies beyond maybe a Star Trek 7 wishing Kirk and Co farewell.

I certainly think that EM Forster's classic sf story-'The Machine Stops' was being consciously honoured in this episode.
Most of the characters in that story have no concept of how the planetary machine actually works either.
I cannot say I never disagree with Jammer as I found this story more interesting than the last one with the Binars but the shmalz was overdone and the wrap up pretty unconvincing.

It's pretty funny this is one of the few episodes in this season, that truly tells a story you shouldn't be able to do on TOS, as it relies on there being kids on the ship-so it adds in an old TOS "alien society ran by a computer" cliche.

I mean, this kind of story would have hard time not ending up boring under any circumstances, but dear god is this story the personification of beige. This is certainly not TNG at it's stupidest, silliest or even dullest but it is at its blandest. Even the freaking clothing is blaaand.

The whole "we are perfect in the future" was particularly annoying here. Little kids learning calculus, Crusher calming down a mother for acting somewhat concerned over her kid, even the kids on the planet act like they are just kinda meh about everything.

Heh heh.

I actually like this ep just fine when I first saw it - pleasant, somewhat suspenseful - but I still enjoyed the review.

I agree with Nick P though: the culture made perfect sense as a society that had let their brains/curiosity go to sleep for generations. They didn't have scientists. Even their artists seemed to rely on magic tools (little Harry - scuktping by waving an odd thing over a solid substance!! But is it still sculpting when it takes no hand-skill Hines by decades of practice??)

Would have made more sense if all X dozen Wnterprise kids had been taken, but that actually never bothered me until I read this review.

Maybe they could have solved their problems themselves if they had spent a little more time thinking (e.g., calculus) rather than feeling.

What I don't get is this:

When faced with the problem given the planet, why did neither the inhabitants nor the Enterprise crew make the suggestion that perhaps they could adopt orphans in order to give them a good home? Or, perhaps, announce that they would take in settlers to their planet in return for the children of the settlers being taught to carry on their society? Certainly there are people out there looking for a home (what happened to the colony that they had to move during "Justice?")

I didn't have a problem with the episode or it's execution, but the fact that none of them suggested a less confrontational option was kind of silly.

So long since I've seen season one of TNG that I'll refrain from commenting, other than having just noticed that this is the single Trek directorial outing by Kim Manners, who would famously go on to produce and direct X-Files and Supernatural, and to whom Vince Gilligan dedicated the Breaking Bad episode 'Breakage', on his death in 2009. I wonder how that one-off involvement came about.

Was the leader of the Aldeans Bill Murray's brother?

3 stars

I enjoyedthis one. Liked myth of Aldea
Felt for aldeans
Genuine helplessness for the crew with Aldeans upper hand with shields and cloak

Neat idea in 24th century younger kids already studying calculus. Really appealed to me
Just an sllsround entertaining hour

BORING!

It does seem strange to me, that given the multi-ethnicity and multi-species acceptance that drives much of the narrative for this show, that of all the children taken were all white. No blacks, no Aisians, no one of color. I’m not saying that there was a racist intent but it does seem odd.

So I was sort of dreading this one and didn't have good memories of it. But it's not quite as bad as I remembered.

I really don't like the opening and the utterly stupid dialogue about the "legend of Aldea." I hate the way Riker even says the word, and after he waxes on and on about the legend, Tasha's reply is incredible: "What a wonderful fairy tale."

HONEY, you have already experienced the following on your short tour of duty:

-- An omnipotent being who froze you at a 21st century trial and who later put in you a "penalty box" when you balked at fighting "vicious animal things."

-- You witnessed a jellyfish-like creature rise from a planet and fly off into space (and turn its body into its own spaceship)

-- You screwed an android after getting a weird space disease.

-- You were on the Enterprise when Wesley's boyfriend, "The Travelah," sent your ship not only to another galaxy but also to a place where thought becomes reality.

-- You beamed down to a planet where some portal type dude from 500,000 years ago didn't realize it was dead but still had the power to immobilize your starship.

-- You had recreational sex with people who worship some kind of machine-being that's there and not there and who want to employ capital punishment for falling into flower beds.

-- You saw your captain beam out into a possessive energy cloud to join it for good-times exploration (or were you too busy not keeping two diplomatic delegations apart?).

And this is a "wonderful fairy tale" that's beyond possibility in your world? This is what you scoff at and can't possible believe? PLEASE. Except for the weird cat fight, the wedding party bickering and meeting up with some gals more dominant that yourself, Aldea is the most normal mission you've been on!

What horrible writing. Poor Denise Crosby. OK -- got that off my chest.

In concept, I'm down with the story: Hidden planet, needs children, takes them. The execution was typical Season 1 clunky in many places, but there were a few positives:

-- Wesley, for once, is tolerable and believable in his efforts as the leader of the kids (who were bad little actors for the most part).

-- I like the actual kidnapping sequence of the Aldeans sending the landing party back and immediately transporting away the kids (though I think they could have milked the shock factor of that better)

-- The scene at the end when they walk into the huge cavern area storing the Provider computer was really good! Nice work for 1980s FX.

I think if the Season 3 team had done this show, it could have been a good one.

P.S.: Brenda Strong is in it, who later was the voice of the dead woman on "Desperate Housewives."

I've always had a soft spot for this episode. It was the first one that really addressed the idea of families on the Enterprise and the story potential of them being aboard. I regretted that, in the subsequent years of the show, we saw fewer and fewer civilian costumes among the hall-walking extras. And the disappearance of child extras period.

I've read a lot of the complaints above and, while I can agree with their logic, you have to address the reality that this is a television show. You can't afford dozens of child actors for crowd scenes that would advance the story not one iota. The same goes for the hordes of Aldeans we never saw. Maybe a couple of background extras walking around would have been nice to make Aldea seem like a populated world, but they weren't germane to the plot.

And when it comes to the complaints about the lack of hysteria among the ship's parents, you forget this is when the show was under the thumb of Gene Roddenberry and his ideas about an "enlightened" humanity where negative emotion and conflict don't exist. There were also mostly Starfleet officers, who would have faith that their commanding officer would work his magic and save the day.

Oh, and to the detractor who wanted to know how Riker knew Harry's name. Riker was the one who would mostly deal with the crew and civilian complement and it just makes sense he's familiar with them. Case in point, he also knew the names of Mathews and Pola, the two scamps who left the Chinese finger puzzle in the observation lounge in "The Last Outpost". Must be that advanced 24th Century memory they all have...

One final thought. Someone also mentioned the emphatic way Riker was pronouning the name "Aldea". Looking and listening closely, you can tell "Aldea" was being looped in post-production and Frakes was actually saying "Aldair", which was the planet's original name and changed after the first day of shooting. Dubbing always makes things sound more pronounced than normal.

But yes, the expositing between Riker and Yar was a little overwrought.

Terrible episode.
Not as bad as 'Code of Honor', but close.
It bothers me how the kids have next to no emotion when they are kidnapped.

We're stealing some of your children. Hope you don't mind. We'll give you some technology for them if you like. If you don't, well, so long; nice to meet you.
Be warned.

Another boring TNG S1 episode -- just really not well thought out and downright boring. Did the writers think having some kids featured would work well? Based on TOS, I think they should know better.

This highly advanced society with superior technology than the Enterprise doesn't even bother to figure out what's wrong with them and so they think they can just kidnap children and, worse comes to worst, (presumably) defend themselves. No morals or anything. And of course, Crusher figures out what's wrong with them in a few days.

And the Aldeans have this supposed super computer -- the "Custodian" which is easily disarmed by Riker/Data (lower the planet's shields/cloak). It didn't even try to pull a Landru or disco cube ("That Which Survives") on the landing party.

I apologize for comparing this episode to "The Inner Light" but there was one thing that makes me say this -- this Aldean society wants to preserve itself, wants to preserve its art forms. It does this by kidnapping children whereas Picard's mind was basically kidnapped in the TNG classic. So there is an aspect of the society's preservation at stake here.

Interesting that the Custodian was build by the "Progenitors" -- from "The Chase" so that could explain how the Aldeans had the cloaking device for millennia. Some of these things are mind-boggling relative to the usual Trek. But I didn't like having these idiotic Aldeans in possession of such valuable knowledge.

And what of that room where the power source lies -- did they take the "God" from "Justice" and stick it in there for this episode? That's what it looked like to me.

Anyhow, the rescue operation is too standard, predictable (beam through fluctuation in the shield, etc.) The kids' passive resistance isn't tested -- the episode is just too lame, too docile. I don't think even 1 kid shed a tear at not being with their parents for a few days.

Barely 1.5 stars for "When the Bough Breaks" -- it's as if this episode is meant to be G-rated although there are serious issues at play -- but they're dulled down. The balance was off, urgency lacked, and the Aldean society seemed like it wanted to just focus on arts etc. and leave technology to the Custodian, except when threatened. The little girl fooling around with Picard couldn't even help this episode. Plenty of filler material.

In the Inner Light, Picard was essentially temporarily borrowed for a few hours. Here the plan was to take the children forever. One was a minor inconvenience. The other was malicious, unethical, deplorable, immoral and akin to a sex slave ring.

A race this stupid deserved infertility. That and because they were utterly barbaric

A hunger strike? That has Gene's nonsense "kids are just tiny adults" philosophy written all over it. These Aldean's are so inept the kids should've just been kids. Running around screaming, crying, breaking furniture, then the Aldeans would be begging to give them back.

What really irritates me, aside from the absurdity that six or seven kids can repopulate a planet, is that the plot requires the Aldeans to be deliberately obtuse. Benjamin S mentioned adoption, colonization, and any number of other solutions that would be more palatable. This could've been solved in five minutes but the plot requires them to be morons for it to work.

The little girl's Tribble stuffy was the real star of this episode.

I never understood why Picard wasn't like, "Well, you can't have *THESE* kids, but you're more than welcome to adopt as many children as you'd like from Federation orphanages."

Bring out ship after ship of human or at least federation-affiliated children to be raised by the Aldeans and learn their ways and how to operate everything.

Then, twenty years later, after the last Aldean dies off, the Federation has complete control over Aldea.

It was literally an invitation to take it all and Picard blew it.

Another really bad epsiode. This mid-way part of Season 1 is getting difficult to watch. Lots of issues could be pointed out but the biggest problem of all is that it’s just extremely boring. 1 star, I guess...

A classic TNG style episode. A quick lesson at the expense of story. Well done number one!

Actually Wesley was good in this one. His part in the plot was fitting t to his age.


7/10

IMO this is the worst episode of season 1. I also feel that, in this episode, the Federation comes off looking worse than the child-abducting aliens.

Picard and the crew are adamant that "no human parent will give up its offspring", but surely in a galaxy spanning organization like the Federation, there are thousands of orphans, or parents with children, who if asked, would give their consent to being raised on this planet, or live on this planet alongside their dispossessed kids.

Picard, in never bringing this option up, escalates the situation.

Not bad. I'd call it an average offering.

I liked the way the Aldeans tried to identify the true talents of each child. And I thought Wesley was well used in the ep, providing a link between the planet and the ship, the younger children and the adults.

The premise was silly and didn't work all that well, but plot holes and such are par for the course. I didn't find this ep anymore guilty of plot hole issues than your standard ST fare.

I felt sorry for the sterile Aldeans, and I thought their joy and quick attachment to the children was touching.

The alien-ness of the casual way they brought up "buying" the children was interesting, too.

Sorta TOS like with the preachy, "teaching these aliens a lesson" ending, but a decent ep overall.

The Aldeans used a repulsor beam to repel and catapult the Enterprise three days away from the planet. What really mystifies me is how the force required to generate so much repulsion would not simply pulverize the vessel instantly.

Why do the Aldeans even need children specifically for repopulation? Why not ask young adult crew members if they'd like to be the heirs of an entire planet by having sex and using godlike technology on a hidden Eden? I'm sure they'd find a few takers.

this episode was poorly conceived, but I didn't hate it.

The scene where they first talk to the "guardian" is eerily familiar to modern viewers, what with our obsession with talking to our phones and computers now. A nice bit of foreshadowing there.

The overall concept is fascinating as well. The particular plot points don't really make sense, but if you just accept that, you can still enjoy the performances. Especially scenes where the main cast adopt mannerisms that they later adjusted or smoothed out, sometimes even acting "out of character" compared to their later performances.

The supporting actress who gives them the tour of the facility early on, is horribly bad. Even the TNG cast, when standing listening to her, can be seen almost snickering, or "smiling and nodding"...a group of superior actors watching someone reading lines like they just joined their middle school play. That was hard to watch.

This is a nice piece of historical TNG and its entertaining on re-watch, despite the plot holes.

It’s bland but a fairly competent bland. That is, it wasn’t terribly marred by season 1 troubles. It would have fit with some tweaks as a bland episode in season 3 or 6. Actually it would have been a strong season 7 episode.

Yes, this was bland, most definitely ... but IMO the acting of the children was FAR better than the performance of the two adult guest actors in "Too short a season".

Oh right..... right right, I forgot about the PEDOPHILE EPISODE. Those poor kids...only they will know what truly happened to them down there...

This one probably has Maurice Hurley all over it.

Just watched this again today. My main question is. . . Exactly how were these six prepubescent children and Wes, going to repopulate the planet??????? The people seemed so desperate, so were they going to wait 12 to 20 years for them to get old enough to mate with each other? Were the adults going do it with them? And unless they turned the three little girls into baby factories once they become of age, the few children they would naturally have wouldn't increase their population in the least. Even Crusher told them the children would just become infertile themselves.

Some of the planets people were in their 70's, while others were in their 30's and 40's. How were the younger ones born? And if the issue was radiation from the Sun, but they all seemed to stay inside because of their sensitivity to light, how were they still infertile?

At least the episode, Up the Long Ladder, was far more plausible with their dilemma of not being able to have children. Send in the Clones!!!

I love this episode. Everything is as dumb as one could imagine and after the stakes in NuTrek were it is always about the destruction of the galaxy, Federation or now TWIST the rebuilding of the Federation, here it is about getting half a dozen children back.

So what you want about this, but Picard's speech of outrage after the kidnapping was delightful.

"You have committed an act of utter barbarity!"

Also it's funny how much of a throwback the first season felt. The custodian voice reminded of a Doohan voice from TOS like Sargon or the computer on Yonada. I also detected a hint of TOS music.

This episode would have been vastly superior if it had proven impossible for the Aldeans to have children of their own, even if their radiation sickness was curable.

1. More gravitas to the ending. It concludes with Aldea vanishing for the final time... and passing into legend.

2. More true to Radue's character. Instead of going all nicey nice and humble at the end, he can stay in character, demand that the Enterprise leave and refuse to share the Aldeans' knowledge.

3. Despite a presumed alliance with Aldea, the Federation never gains planetary shields, super-powerful repulsor beams, or the ability to assess a person's inherent gifts by scanning them. Having Aldea reject their aid and terminate contact would erase this inconsistency.

4. Picard doesn't end the episode with a Tribble stuck to his shirt.

This episode is so frustrating I keep writing huge essays about it here and then deleting them. The 'so advanced they lose the ability to understand their own tech' type of society is a fun concept and everything promising about it is ruined by the writing where simple answers are ignored for the purpose of plot. Tech for children? Sure, but let's do that with orphaned children who need homes rather than freaking *kidnapping*.

The one complaint I have that I don't think I've seen anyone else have, though, is the ludicrous premise of a society where someone can take something they want from someone else and then just arrange compensation.

No society even remotely similar to human civilization here on earth could progress with that as a fundamental law. The Aldeans would not have made it out of the stone age if Grok preferred Ung's cave and could just go squat in the cave while Ung was out picking berries. Like your neighbor's wife? Go grab her and drag her back to your hide tent. This whole concept is ridiculous because it would just lead to ceaseless violence and instability in the society.

It's so mindnumblingly bad I am angry and my entire day is ruined.

Wesley's jumper - the pretendy uniform effort again.

This episode can be summed up by Picard's expression and reaction towards the little girl asking for a hug.

An interesting story full of potential and different from the usual Trek sci-fi. But delivered in such a terrible clunky way! Apart from some dialogue that is both predictable and lazy, there are plot holes so big you could sail the entire Starfleet through them. As Jammer would say, “Gee, a race so powerful they could hurl the Enterprise 3 days distant, yet apparently unable to discover the source of their own problems?”

Consistent though, in developing the notion that Picard is not comfortable around children, I’ll give it that.

I would give this almost 2 stars for potential - it could have been a 3 star episode if done right.

“When the bough breaks
The cradle will fall
Down will come baby
Cradle and all “

Viewing this episode on my current rewatch of the series, I kept thinking that the main Aldean woman looked so familiar. Then it clicked:

It's Sue Ellen Mischke, the bra-less wonder! Heiress of the Oh! Henry candy bar fortune!

Yeah, I just spotted Brenda Strong in Starship Troopers 2, in which she's one of the stars. I had a similar reaction...

Captain Deladier Starship Troopers (1)
I liked Brenda Strong in that....she was a great captain (wonder if she tried out for the Janeway part?). Managed to save her ship during the debacle at Klendathu when she utters the terrific line "Somebody made a big G-- d-mned mistake." Unfortunately, the writers gave her a painful sendoff at Planet P , but at least she got Carmen out safe.

This kind of an episode is infinitely more enjoyable than one where a half or more of the scenes are situated in a 20th-century Earth environment, q.v. the Holodeck garbage.

I've always liked enough of the isolated moments within this episode to come away with a positive sense of the episode itself.

On my most recent viewing, I especially liked the moment when Radue tells PIcard, "You have to deal with this (the children's resistance). I'm not very good with children."

Picard's facial expression first says, "Like you think I am?????" but he catches himself and puts on an air of confidence. "Oh, a hunger strike. Yes, yes, I know just how to handle that."

Regarding my last, posted in 2020, there's one more...

5. It's just stupid that Picard was handed the Ultimate Diplomatic Bargaining Chip... and doesn't even try to use it. All he really had to do was tell Radue: "Return the kids you took, and we'll help you pop out an unlimited supply of your own. No homesickness, and no uncooperative behavior until they turn into teenagers and it's normal. And if we do this for you and say pretty please, can we look at the specs on that repulsor beam?"

Simple solution, ideal for the Aldeans because their own kids would have their DNA and also be perfect blank slates. And no need to risk scattering bits of Riker and Data across half the galaxy by trying to beam them through the shield.

And once again, Picard doesn't have to deal with a stuffed tribble stuck to his uniform. He still has to deal with the awkward "Alexandra wants pickie uppies" moment, though. We're not TOTALLY letting you off, Jean-Luc.

The "custodian" is their version of Google.

This episode is terrible. Another planet that has just 5 inhabitants who are all wooden characters.

While I'm not about to argue that this episode is, well, any good, I've always liked that the kid at the beginning asks why we need to learn Calculus... and the rest of the episode is actually a very, very good answer to that question.

You have to remember that when TNG came on, it was the only serious science fiction show on TV. Even Quantum Leap hadn't started yet, and Babylon 5, which didn't start until TNG ended, wasn't on network TV. So I, for one, stuck with it through the poor episodes because even the poor ones still had the Trek universe wrapped around them, I liked most of the cast, and there were no other choices. Sure, the "alien civilization (that looks entirely human) depends on central computer so much that they can't do anything" had become a cliche from the first series. And the magically rushed solutions to problems is a trope from all TV, not just Star Trek. But Trek was still operating with Roddenberry Rules, and though they were obviously unrealistic it didn't feel like they'd been completely explored yet, so living in that universe was more fun than most anything else available. Even the little things like the young kid learning calculus were interesting tidbits to think about after the show was over. For people who didn't live through that time, it's probably hard to appreciate.

To me, Babylon 5 was far better than TNG in almost any dimension you could measure. But B5 wasn't on the air yet, and Star Trek has always been lovable in a way most other SF shows aren't.

I completely disagree with the low rating on this one. Yes, it has some oversimpllification, like, as said, "6 kids", "3 sets", and "a planet with just 5 people". But c'mom, this is Star Trek and their 50min episodes. It always does those simplifications! The question is not the scale of events, but the ideas and questions, and I think this episode has good ones.

They've stole our kids, and that is horrific. But the episode doesn't make it easy: because what about their stoling our kids but giving them a more fitting life than we were giving? How well can we justify Aldean's wrong doing in terms of what is actually best for the kids, instead of merely our "property" rights towards our children? This is no easy question.

Their trade negotiations was well set. They have the children, but they're a culture who believes in "taking and giving", so they offer something in return. And, again, the episode doesn't make it easy: they actually have something good to give in return. Isn't there ANYTHING worth giving those kids to the Aldeans for? The easy answer is "no", of course, BUT how firmly can the Enteprise crew sustain that? I mean, Dr. Crusher can say "our children are not for sale at any price", but they already boarded their children on a risky mission trough space on a starship! You risk your children's life to explore the universe but can't let they be under other's (better) tutelage in return of obtaining the knowledge that you already risked them for?

In the end, the supposedly advanced and enlightened human society boarding the Enterprise doesn't stand on anything more then primitive instincts — what is nice to see. And one little extra point: in TOS we approach the galaxy with caution; in TNG they interact with a certain optimism and naivety, so I liked a lot they doing that and just gotting flat out stolen haha.

In the end, the problem was more logistics than drama, of course. It was clear, from the begining, that a first more obvious solution would be 1- Assessing if the Federation can actually solve the Aldean's infertility problem or 2- Meeting then with a race who accepts giving away their children, i.e., who doesn't have our "unusual attachment to their offspring" as Deanna says (well writen dialog here). Yes, that was clear. But even point 1 was decently addressed: the Aldeans became blind-faithed in a science they don't know anymore how works and where it's limits are. If that sounds "ludicrous" to you, just take a look at our world today, because we surely are, if not already in, at least in the edge of accepting faithfully, for good and for bad, justifiable and sometimes not, scientists's word on things that we don't understand ourselfes.

And even Wesley wasn't a pain in the ass on this episode.

So, it's a solid 3 and a half stars for me.

I agree with the last poster here-I really enjoyed this episode. Yes, the Aldeans do not know how their machine works, and stealing the children is an immoral act, but people complaining at the lack of anger on the Enterprise's part is odd to me. What good does mindless anger do? They got the children back, and warned the Aldeans of the error of their ways-what else is required?

I also don't understand the hatred towards Wesley. I saw these way back when they came out (before the internet) and my friends and I thought he was really neat. Maybe some didn't like him, but I think a lot of opinions of this kind are made by people online whose empathic ideas sway others towards their viewpoints. Or maybe I'm just in the minority, but I like Wesley. He's not arrogant or elitist-he just happens to usually be the smartest person in the room.

Old Admiral Jameson in the wheelchair was described as being Muppet-like in some other review - once you read that you can’t take this seriously.

Sorry that was the previous episode! This one was ok, agree with the commentators saying it’s odd that these planets just have a handful of people, no separate countries and you are immediately in touch with the president.

The next episode is a bit more realistic as at least it’s a scientific survey group intended to be small. Plus when they open hailing frequencies they take a minute or two to reply and that’s seen as being odd - but surely not every leader is just sat by the phone waiting for a hail from a passing starship.

The episode was fine. But the wood-sculpting scene really annoyed me. If a sculpture can be made by a six year old in one second by waving a magic wand over a block of wood, that isnt art.

(I have the same complaint about TNG’s depiction of medicine. If that little kid were given a tricorder rather than a woodcarving wand, he could do everything Crusher does.)

Tara, that’s a little harsh and belittling towards Crusher’s character. What would you prefer to see? A tricorder is basically just a medical sensor/lab on steroids. You still need a Doctor to interpret the data and pick the best course of treatment. I don’t think your proverbial six year old could set a broken bone if handed an x-ray, or conjure up the best prescription if handed labs showing an elevated white cell count.

The kid not understanding why he needs to learn calculus isn't just a inconsequential character bit; this episode harkens back to the classic TOS theme of "technology is a tool, not a crutch.'

I don't think this episode is all that bad. The Aldeans remind me of the Feeders of Vaal from TOS's "The Apple." The difference being that the Aldeans' hubris blinds them to the fact that they have a computer "God."

A few people mentioned that the Aldean scientists weren't able to solve a problem in decades which Crusher figured out in hours; I don't consider this a plot hole so much as proof that the haughty Aldean scientists are, ironically, custodians for the Custodian.

SMH... It's no wonder the fan base was sick and tired of "the boy"! I will never understand Gene's pre-occupation with Wesley.

This is one of those episodes in which the core premise is so broken that it’s difficult to take anything seriously. The dangers of over-reliance on tech, or perhaps surrendering to complacency in the face of convenience, is clearly at the heart of the story here, but it’s an idea that’s undercut by the fact that the Aldeans understand and use their technology with casual competence. Past episodes that dealt with this sort of concept would make it clear that the people bound up in some runaway computer based pseudo-utopian nightmare had been reduced to a state akin to children, or even prisoners, vulnerable to the whims of technological fate, the orange weirdos from The Apple come to mind, which at least makes whatever malfunctions that are occurring explainable and lays bare the dangers of surrendering one’s intellect to a computer overlord. The Aldeans, however, are never shown to be incapable in the face of their tech, we’re told that they’ve “forgotten how everything works” or whatever but they seem to wield repulsor beams, transporters, cloaking shields, and tools for “art”(that totally invalidate the creative process) at will. So when asked “what is brain”, they’d probably have a pretty thorough answer, and I doubt they’d succumb to the horrors of the red hour if the custodian pitched that idea. Thus they have no real excuse for being so clueless, they really ought to be able to identify the cause, and concoct numerous solutions to their infertility problem without resorting to pathetically small scale kidnapping. After all, they certainly know the world is not hollow and they can’t touch the sky. Pair all that with the lack of offered alternatives(my first thought was send in the orphans!) and you have a plot that just can’t bear scrutiny.
Additionally, this is the beigest of beige episodes. Aesthetically speaking, this is the epitome of dull. On the plus side, Wesley’s role is meaningful and less annoying than usual.

TOS inspiration: a flaking of Wink of an Eye and For the World is Hollow and I Have Touched the Sky.

1.5/4 reams of unfinished calculus homework.

Did the Alteans have a plan B for solving their infertility problem? Because plan A, unless I missed something, was to stay hidden and hope that somebody comes along and finds them anyway, after thousands of years of nobody managing to do just that.

Humans are unusually attached to their children? Strange line, once again painting the human race as being unique despite all of the evidence otherwise in this show. Betazeds seem to be attached too, as this season has already shown us, and that's just one example, the species of the person who said it no less.

The scene of the power room (?) was impressive for its time and budget. Only a small scene but still.

Holy hell, what a mess.

There are two things about “When the Bough Breaks” that I did not hate:

1.) Rashella was totally pleasant to my eye. She wasn’t a knockout smokeshow, but had some real girl-next-door beauty.

2.) I mean, really, she should have been the one in charge. If I’m Picard, I’m not going to listen to a single damn word that the dusty old pervert has to say, but Rashella’s plights and negotiation strategy just might give me pause. You know what I’d ask for as compensation. Schaaaawiiiiiing!!

I’ll give the episode this: It was very easy for me to empathize with all the kidnapped kids’ parents back on the Enterprise, as I have three (and soon to be four) whippersnappers of my own. However, a lot of these parents’ reactions seemed oddly muted to me, even Crusher’s. (Picard must have told her to tone down the hysterics after “Injustice.”) If that Ragu asshole had abducted my kids, you’d best believe I’d be stealing a shuttle, landing near the human life-form readings, and phasering every yokel standing in my way until I got them back.

Picard, thankfully, stands fairly firm in fighting for the interests of the kids. There are a couple of times he could have taken it a step further. For example, when he brought up the fact that parents are willing to die for their children, I would have added, “or *kill* for their children” while looking straight at Ragu.

Everyone is missing how evil these Aldean degenerates really were. Yes, I said "degenerates." If you are okay with abducting children for selfish reasons from an otherwise supportive and stable environment, you are a degenerate. I mean, come on. Are you going to watch Ragu kidnap that sweet little girl Alexandra and *not* decide that he deserves to die?! Plus, they were rather antiseptically beamed off the ship. Imagine if a boarding party had snatched them away, kicking and screaming, by brute force. Everybody would be singing a different tune.

Anyways, these deviant Aldean perverts know damn well that they have to take young children (and wait patiently until they finally become old enough to repopulate) because kids can be molded, manipulated and brainwashed far more easily than adults can. “When the Bough Breaks” proves to be an accidental allegory for how minders in childcare, education and government are hijacking our children's minds at younger and younger ages. If you tell a five-year-old that 2+2=Giraffe, they’ll accept it. But once they get even slightly older, they can start to see through the bullshit. In fact, one thing that was demonstrated perfectly in this episode was how Wesley was far too old to be a good abductee for these yutzes; he didn’t bend for a second and was competent enough to organize a protest among the younger kids.

These aren’t new families that the children are going to. These aren’t cohesive “units,” as Ragu calls them. These are vengeful crimes of passion waiting to happen, make no mistake about it. Rashella may be lovely, but she’s also crazy as hell like the rest of her Aldean brethren — just witness her reaction when Ragu tells her to give up Alexandra to two other perverts. These people are going to fight each other over children that aren’t even theirs. Your witness.

Jerry Hardin is serviceable as Ragu, but is hardly as memorable here as he was in his portrayal of “Deep Throat” on *The X-Files*. (Fun fact: Hardin’s daughter is Melora Hardin, probably best known for playing delightfully batshit-crazy Jan on *The Office*.)

“When the Bough Breaks” is slooooooooooow. It wasn’t even a competent “message” show. Just what exactly was its point? “Technology = Bad?” “Ozone Layer = Good?” That sure doesn’t justify Paramount’s expenses here. Everything is painfully predictable. Guess what, it’s the supercomputer and the great big shield that’s poisoning the planet. Wow, what a revelation.

It’s all just completely inept and pointless. The Aldeans are uninteresting, silly morons that deserved to be killed for their stupidity even more so than their abusive actions (though I would have saved Rashella). Jammer is absolutely, 100% correct about the “negotiations” angle of the story. With such demonstrable power on their part, all the Aldeans needed to do was kidnap the kids and cloak the planet. “Well, then there would be no story.” Precisely. This story is too dumb to stand.

They don’t even understand simple genetics on Aldea (nor in the TNG writers’ room). Now, I’m the last person to bitch about bad science in science fiction, but this episode deserves whatever I can throw. A breeding stock of four females and two males—I’m not counting Harry—is not nearly enough to start repopulating a colony, even if both boys grew up to sire, say, 32 children (8 with each girl). With each generation, the pairing possibilities become less and less until everyone is either a cousin or half-sibling. We all know what a few generations of cousin-fucking would do to Aldea. Just look at the royal family or the state of Wisconsin.

Lastly, studying calculus in high school makes sense. Calculus in grade school? Not so much. Could this have been Gene Roddenberry’s doing? Did he and his writers intend to show that humanity had advanced so much by the 24th Century that 11 and 12-year-old kids would be able to wrap their minds around complex mathematics? If so, fuck him. If these humans are all a bunch of pod babies or enhanced with technology embedded in their skulls (*), I could applaud the calculus detail. That would be a well-conceived futuristic horror story. The idea that humans will be able to improve themselves on their own, however—without any freaky genetic engineering or AI enhancements—is typical naive, cutesy Star Trek bullshit.


Speak Candidly:

Dr. Bernard, after his son Harry is rescued from a hellish captivity of beige boredom -- “You still have to take calculus.”


My Grade: F


(*) = Some "real" sci-fi horror:

-- Pod Babies (They're Coming!): https://www.theswaddle.com/artificial-wombs-to-enhanced-babies-how-ethical-is-the-future-of-birth

-- Brain Chips (They're Coming!): https://opentools.ai/news/alexandr-wangs-futuristic-family-planning-waiting-for-neuralink-babies



NEXT TIME!!!!!! ON STAR TREK!!!! THE NEXT GENERATION!!!

LaForge: “Data’s in the hydraulics room alone and we’re hearing laser blasts!”

But how fast can it switch positions?!

"Lastly, studying calculus in high school makes sense. Calculus in grade school? Not so much. Could this have been Gene Roddenberry’s doing? Did he and his writers intend to show that humanity had advanced so much by the 24th Century that 11 and 12-year-old kids would be able to wrap their minds around complex mathematics? If so, fuck him. If these humans are all a bunch of pod babies or enhanced with technology embedded in their skulls (*)"

To be fair to this crap story maybe Harry was, I dunno, a genius? The Aldeans never said materializing boring gift shop dolphin sculptures was his only talent. I'm guessing in the 24th century all education is personalized so if you're a genius prodigy you get calculus in grade school. If you're Wesley Space Mozart Crusher you get to play with antimatter in preschool.

When the patience breaks

@ Jason R. -- Hey, I'll buy that! We haven't actually seen how the Enterprise kids go to school, but it sure would make sense for each one of them to have a special IEP (Individualized Education Plan).

@ Peter G.

Yes!

"When the patience breaks
The rating will fall
And down will come Episode
Cliches and All"

I'm going to be extremely charitable and suppose the episode's title implies what the rhyme does, that the baby was placed in a precarious position, and while the rocking was going on it felt secure and nice, but when the structure eventually breaks it's all over. And the people in this episode were apparently being rocked to sleep every night by their computer system and kept away from others, not just on a shaky branch but at the top of the tree itself. Maximum distance from the ground, but on the other hand secured by the trunk (bough) itself, which is seemingly very strong and secure. But one lightning strike and boom, it's broken in half. And now you're not just up in the tree but at the very top, with all that distance to fall. So the "safe" position is also the most dangerous.

So what's the analogy here? My thinking is the theme is centered specifically around the cloaking technology, and that using it to keep them distanced and safe from everyone in the universe is a terrible defense concept, because being cut off seems safe in the short term but carries grave dangers in the long term, the least of which is some radiation crap, but more importantly not knowing what's going on, having no ties or connections to anyone, and ultimately being helpless if anything goes wrong. But again - who cares? In this episode we certainly don't. So why bother with this message?

So my second order analysis would suggest that since the rhyme is about a baby, the technical theme about not being cut off and coddled should be seen as oriented toward children, not the goofballs on Aldea. The word aldea, by the way, is a word for "small village" in some languages, which is perhaps connected to the motif of children being sheltered, since if you consider a typical family unit, they're an 'aldea', a small community of sorts, but I think already in the 80's we were seeing a reduction in large community involvement, particularly with kids. Already gone were the days of 6 year old kids walking out the door at 8 am and their parents not seeing them again until dinner time, as they roam around with the neighborhood kids. The neighborhood got smaller, and since the 80's it's gotten far smaller still. Now it appears that even play-dates are hard to come by, to say nothing of 'the local gang.'

So maybe there's some subtle interplay going on here between kids being stuck with just their parents, versus having access to a broader community and interacting with more adults. One thing the episode shows us but which is severely neutralized in terms of us caring about it, is that the adults on Aldea really did start connecting with the kids and teaching them things about their culture and tools. And this is great, the Enterprise crew should be thrilled to have community members like that who want to be communal parents for the group of children. This is the way it should be, that kids aren't just stuck at home all the time with their parents and no one else to connect with or learn from. The fact is that the plot is so ill-conceived that it managed to take this really positive development and embed it in a child-snatching plot so that we hate these people and want them to fail at connecting with the kids. How dumb is that?! All we needed was for the these jerks to reach out to the Federation, ask for help, and in the meantime ask if they could do some babysitting and teach the kids a thing or two, and the episode wouldn't have even needed a villain. The material could have shown that life on the Enterprise isn't as cut off as it seems, because the families can visit other words and have their kids go and learn from new people. That's the "elementary school calculus" that would be great for kids to have, exposure to different peoples and becoming worldly. But in confining the kids to "get back to school now and learn your calculus" the episode inadvertently ends up showing us that having kids be cloistered in their little culture is what they need, whether they like it or not. As if the audience is sitting there thinking, wow these lucky 10 year olds who get to do calculus. Ugh. Such disconnected writing.

Still, I think the theoretical message is interesting, and could have made for a very good episode had they not been fixated on this tech plot with a jerk planet and some DNA nonsense. Something on the theme of sheltering people, and particularly children, putting them in worse long-term danger would have been fine. Oh well.

@Peter G., you are amazing! I thought there's no way--none--that you could find any nuggets of something I may have been missing in this turd, but you admirably did! It doesn't change my assessment of the episode at all, but I can at least somewhat see what they might have been going for when you point out how "When the Bough Breaks" might be trying to show that children need to get out and explore the world more, meeting new people and trying out wood sculpting.